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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29010657">hidden in plain sight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyxxxooo/pseuds/lilyxxxooo'>lilyxxxooo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>DAN AND PHIL - Freeform, Fluff, Introspection, M/M, Phandom - Freeform, Phanfiction, hidden in plain sight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:34:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>527</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29010657</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyxxxooo/pseuds/lilyxxxooo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>summary: we know, they know, but the world doesn’t need to. some soft fluff inspired by phils new video.<br/>or the one where i am clearly the first type of person that is written about (the unlabelled formless blob who refuses to point out pretty girls)<br/>genre: fluffy drabble<br/>warnings: bad and emotional writing. swearing</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dan Howell &amp; Phil Lester, Dan Howell/Phil Lester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>hidden in plain sight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>enjoy my mind scramble, idk how to process emotions *hides*<br/>follow my tumblr @dramaticlester</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>it’s not exactly a secret that they keep, but one they don’t share. their fans aren’t as crazy as they used to be; they don't pry as deep. they ask stupid questions sometimes, but dan and phil answer with equally stupid answers. its so comfortable. that's why, when the question ‘tell us about your current dating life’, comes up, phil doesn’t even flinch. he gives a soft smile, even a little chuckle, and says he wants to keep his private life separate from the real world.</p><p>in the same video, he talks about dan and the new home they’re building together, he smiles fondly at stupid things they did, but got great memories from. its all so calm and lovely, he feels safe and not too exposed. but the real fans can see it, they can understand why it’s important that their love is kept safe.</p><p>it’s special, something that many people won’t understand, something that will be torn to pieces by the media who are trying to make a quick buck. phil isn’t ready to use his very personal relationship as a capitalists dream, and neither is dan, and neither are their real fans.</p><p>the fans watch it with a smile, with a nod at the truth and a hand over heart to keep it within their little community, the one that dan and phil have come to know and love.</p><p>yes, its so special and so personal, yet its shared between hundreds who understand. people who are struggling to label themselves and don’t feel comfortable, people who refrain from pointing out certain characters that attract their attention in fear that their true feelings will come out about them because they’re girls). people who don’t feel sexual attraction, yet feel validated by one tiny message phil put in the video, because they are so valid, even if they don’t see it. people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, asexual, pansexual or ‘a formless blob’, it really doesn’t matter. because dan and phil are a safe house, even when the real world is really fucking scary, and phil realises this. it’s why he ensures to include these messages in his videos, its why he has the passion he does for his job, he just wants to be safe.</p><p>and if dan and phil sleep together at night time, or bump hips whilst they’re cooking, or share baths and stories and watch TV together, the outside world don’t need to know, because they know they’re safe with their audience. the real ones.</p><p>dan is phil’s everything and phil is dan’s everything. they share so many things, that it’s difficult to tell what is their own. that is why its important, in phils eyes, to keep it to themselves. to separate career and fame, from love and genuineness. this is why dan and phil love their audience, because they know their audience love them back just as much. they know jokes stay as that, jokes. and they know the news will never understand how important to each other they are. and that's okay</p><p>because its hidden in plain sight. you just have to understand really hard to see it.</p>
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